Evaluation of critical thinking skills in Isfahan university of medical sciences' students and its relationship with their rank in university entrance exam rank

Are the education students receive prior to entering the university, based on critical thinking skills? Are their scientific abilities associated with this thinking style? This study was designed with the aim of evaluating critical thinking skills and its relationship with the achieved rank in university entrance exam in the students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. In a descriptive study, critical thinking skills of 89 randomly selected students who entered Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2006-2007, and were spending their first semester was evaluated. Data was gathered using California standard test of critical thinking skills [form B] which was run officially. The attained scores were regarded as students' critical thinking skills criteria and were investigated considering its relationship with the students rank in university entrance exam. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean and standard deviation of students' scores in critical thinking skills was 12.48 +/- 3.23 There was no significant relationship between the rank in university entrance exam and the total score of critical thinking. Among domains of critical thinking, there was just a significant relationship between the domain of inference and student's rank in the university entrance exam, with a relatively low correlation. In two groups of doctorate [professional doctorate] and bachelor students, only in doctorate students and in the domain of deductive reasoning, there was a significant correlation between university entrance exam rank and critical thinking scores. It seems that students' critical thinking scores at the time of their entrance to the university are not so desirable and their rank in the university entrance exam is not related to these skills. Therefore, it is necessary to consider teaching and promoting critical thinking skills in the university educational planning

[Frequency of the relative presence of hepatitis c virus genome in oral lichen planus]

Oral lichen planus [OLP] is an immunologic mucocutanous disorder. Many factors such as stress, diabetics, HCV, Trauma and hypersensitivity have been introduced as its predisposing factors. Recently, much attention has been paid to the relationship between HCV and OLP. According to different specifications of the virus in different races and geographic conditions, the purpose of this study was the assessment of the presence of HCV in oral lichen planus lesions. We prepared 43 paraffin blocks [29 from OLP and 14 from normal oral mucosa]. The OLP blocks were selected from the archive of Pathology department, dental faculty, Esfahan University of Medical Science. After preparing H and E slides from the paraffin blocks, diagnosis of the lesions was confirmed by a pathologist. Then, all the samples were examined by PCR for HCV genome. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and Fisher's Exact rest with P value of 0.05. Among 43 samples examined, 3 were positive and 26 negative in the OLP group and all the 14 samples belonging to the normal mucosa were negative. According to this study, there was no significant correlation between the presence of Hepatitis C virus genome and OLP lesions [p>0.05]. So, researches on other viruses that are effective in oral diseases with more cases and also doing PCR on the blood and serum of OLP patients are recommended

comparison of the effect of artificial blood emulsion [FC-43] and mannitol on the serum level of nitric oxide after reduction of brain blood flow in rabbit

Perfluorocarbons [artificial blood] are keen to bond with oxygen. Therefore, in tissues with blood flow decrease, they would be appropriate candidates to improve oxygen delivery to the ischemic tissues. Moreover, nitric oxide as an active vasodilator increases blood flow. Transient common carotid artery ligation was performed on 15 male white anaesthetized rabbits that were randomized into 3 groups. The groups 1 and 2 received FC-43 and mannitol [12ml/Kg] respectively. The group 3 was considered as control without receiving injection. All animals were monitored for 5 hours. Systolic, diastolic, mean arterial blood pressure, heart rate, hematocrite, plasma level of nitrite and electrolytes [Na+, K+, Ca++] were measured before and after carotid artery ligation at 10 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 3hours and 5hours after injection. The animals were kept in isolated cages, and the survival of animals was monitored for one week. Finally all animals were sacrificed and brain water content was measured to compare the intensity of ischemic edema. A significant increase in nitrite level was observed in the first group at 10 min, 30 min and 1 hour after infusion as compared with the second and control groups [p<0.05]. No significant difference was seen in other parameters between the groups between the groups. Nitric oxide elevation showed improved blood circulation and oxygen delivery to ischemic tissues. It seems that FC-43 as a soluble oxygen delivery system can improve oxygen delivery to ischemic tissues and help their recovery

Estrogen attenuates fatty streak formation in coronary arteries of cholesterol-fed diabetic male rabbits

In this study we investigated the histological role of estrogen on Fatty Streak [FS]formation in some branches of coronary arteries [CA] in cholesterol-fed diabetic male rabbits. Seventeen rabbits were obtained from Pasteur Institute of Iran and diabetes was induced by intravenous injection of Alloxan [200 mg/kg]. After induction of diabetes, they were randomly divided into three groups: [i] control, [ii] low-dose estrogen treatment [1mg/animal] and [iii] high-dose estrogen treatment [5mg/animal]. Estrogen was injected i.m, weekly. Control group received normal saline injection. All groups were fed with cholesterol rich diet [1%] during the experiment. After six weeks, the animals were sacrificed. Hearts were isolated and four branches of CA [Right and Left CA; RCA and LCA, Anterior and Posterior interventricular arteries; AIVA and PIVA] were dissected and evaluated for the relative size of FS and the percentage of arterial lumen narrowing by FS using scale micrometer. The average grades of pathological evaluation for branches of coronary crteries showed that in animals receiving high dose estrogen, the FS formations in RCA, LCA, AIVA and P1 VA [0.33 +/- 0.21, 0.17 +/- 0.17, 0.0 +/- 0.0, 0.0 +/- 0.0, respectively] were significantly lesser than control group [1.40 +/- 0.24, 2.2 +/- 0.37, 0.80 +/- 0.2, 1.20 +/- 0.37, respectively]. We conclude that estrogen has a beneficial role in histological changes of coronary arteries, it can attenuate progression of FS formation administration diabetic rabbits